Stocks have got off to a positive start in early trading, with the enthusiasm which sparked a rebound in Asian and US stocks overnight rippling through to the Gulf.
Video:Market Minute, September 27 2011
Gregor Hunter reports on a market in positive mood, but can it last?
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The Dubai Financial Market General Index rose 0.4 per cent to 1,452.85, while the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange General Index rose 0.5 per cent to 2,546.04. All other regional bourses began the day rising, with the exception of Bahrain.
Asian stocks made a strong start in the early hours of the morning, with the Nikkei 225 rising 2.8 per cent to 8,609.95, and the Hang Seng Index gaining 2.8 per cent to 17,909.32.
International markets were still calling the shots for local traders, but the global stock rally seen overnight should bring some respite, said Yong Wei Lee, head of MENA equities at Emirates NBD.
"I expect the UAE markets to record some positive gains today on the back of strong performance in the US markets yesterday and likewise for Asia this morning," he said.
"We do expect local equity market performance to be affected by movements in global markets for the next few weeks," Mr Lee added. "However, once 3Q results are released, local stocks are likely to take cue from the quality of those earnings."
Abu Dhabi's index was lifted by First Gulf Bank, which rose 2.08 per cent to Dh14.75 per share.
Market Snapshot: What's up and down as of 11am UAE time
Stocks Slight gains: DFM +0.4 per cent to 1,452.85 and ADX +0.5 per cent to 2,546.04.
Oil Gains: Brent +36¢ to $107.62 and Nymex +66¢ to $80.24.
Asian markets Up: Nikkei 225 +2.8 per cent to 8,609.95 and Hang Sang Index +2.8 per cent to 17,909.32.
Credit default swaps Creeping upwards: Dubai CDS 511.69 +21bps and Abu Dhabi CDS 130.00 +6.5bps.
Gold Rebound: $1,650.78/troy ounce +$27.65.
Emaar Properties, the Dubai-based developer of the Burj Khalifa which is one of the exchange's more internationally exposed stocks, is also expected to see a strong performance after receiving an upgrade to its outlook by Standard and Poor's. The ratings agency upgraded the outlook for Emaar's "BB" rating to "stable" from "negative" yesterday, causing the stock to rise 1 per cent to Dh2.79 each.
Oil markets remained frothy, with Brent crude futures rising 36 cents to $107.62 per contract. Gold rose $27.65 to $1,650.78 per troy ounce overnight, having fallen sharply during the past few days.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
The Birkin bag is made by Hermès.
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
Brief scores:
Day 2
England: 277 & 19-0
West Indies: 154
Attacks on Egypt’s long rooted Copts
Egypt’s Copts belong to one of the world’s oldest Christian communities, with Mark the Evangelist credited with founding their church around 300 AD. Orthodox Christians account for the overwhelming majority of Christians in Egypt, with the rest mainly made up of Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Anglicans.
The community accounts for some 10 per cent of Egypt’s 100 million people, with the largest concentrations of Christians found in Cairo, Alexandria and the provinces of Minya and Assiut south of Cairo.
Egypt’s Christians have had a somewhat turbulent history in the Muslim majority Arab nation, with the community occasionally suffering outright persecution but generally living in peace with their Muslim compatriots. But radical Muslims who have first emerged in the 1970s have whipped up anti-Christian sentiments, something that has, in turn, led to an upsurge in attacks against their places of worship, church-linked facilities as well as their businesses and homes.
More recently, ISIS has vowed to go after the Christians, claiming responsibility for a series of attacks against churches packed with worshippers starting December 2016.
The discrimination many Christians complain about and the shift towards religious conservatism by many Egyptian Muslims over the last 50 years have forced hundreds of thousands of Christians to migrate, starting new lives in growing communities in places as far afield as Australia, Canada and the United States.
Here is a look at major attacks against Egypt's Coptic Christians in recent years:
November 2: Masked gunmen riding pickup trucks opened fire on three buses carrying pilgrims to the remote desert monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor south of Cairo, killing 7 and wounding about 20. IS claimed responsibility for the attack.
May 26, 2017: Masked militants riding in three all-terrain cars open fire on a bus carrying pilgrims on their way to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, killing 29 and wounding 22. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack.
April 2017: Twin attacks by suicide bombers hit churches in the coastal city of Alexandria and the Nile Delta city of Tanta. At least 43 people are killed and scores of worshippers injured in the Palm Sunday attack, which narrowly missed a ceremony presided over by Pope Tawadros II, spiritual leader of Egypt Orthodox Copts, in Alexandria's St. Mark's Cathedral. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
February 2017: Hundreds of Egyptian Christians flee their homes in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, fearing attacks by ISIS. The group's North Sinai affiliate had killed at least seven Coptic Christians in the restive peninsula in less than a month.
December 2016: A bombing at a chapel adjacent to Egypt's main Coptic Christian cathedral in Cairo kills 30 people and wounds dozens during Sunday Mass in one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory. ISIS claimed responsibility.
July 2016: Pope Tawadros II says that since 2013 there were 37 sectarian attacks on Christians in Egypt, nearly one incident a month. A Muslim mob stabs to death a 27-year-old Coptic Christian man, Fam Khalaf, in the central city of Minya over a personal feud.
May 2016: A Muslim mob ransacks and torches seven Christian homes in Minya after rumours spread that a Christian man had an affair with a Muslim woman. The elderly mother of the Christian man was stripped naked and dragged through a street by the mob.
New Year's Eve 2011: A bomb explodes in a Coptic Christian church in Alexandria as worshippers leave after a midnight mass, killing more than 20 people.
U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
- Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs
- Thursday 20 January: v England
- Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad:
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
Third Test
Day 3, stumps
India 443-7 (d) & 54-5 (27 ov)
Australia 151
India lead by 346 runs with 5 wickets remaining
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Despacito's dominance in numbers
Released: 2017
Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon
Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube
Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification
Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.
Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
